By means of the press release dated April 6, 2020, the National Hydrocarbons Agency (“ANH”) announced the measures it has been implementing to support the hydrocarbons industry, guarantee the country's energy security and reduce the impact of the crisis on the State finances due to the COVID-19 health crisis and the falling of international oil prices.

The following are main initiatives:

• Investment transfer agreement: Through Agreement 01 of 2020, the ANH regulated the transfer of exploration activities and investments between contracts. Essentially, the initiative allows to transfer exploratory investment commitments that are in assigned areas which have performance difficulties due to public order or environmental reasons, among others, to other areas, as long as the transferred  investment is to be dedicated to exploration activities.

          The agreement is available at the following link:

          http://www.anh.gov.co/la-anh/sobre-la-anh/normatividad/Paginas/Acuerdos.aspx

• Modification of the schedule for the Permanent Process for the Allocation of Areas (PPAA): Through Addendum No. 10, the ANH modified the schedule for the PPAA rescheduling the auctions deadline. Furthermore, in the case of new applications for incorporation of areas, it was established that they may be submitted via email to: incorpocionppaa@anh.gov.co

          Addendum No. 10 is available at the following link:

          http://www.anh.gov.co/Asignacion-de-areas/Paginas/PPAADefinitivo.aspx

• Updated the land map: The update includes the current assigned, available and reserved areas. The latest update of the land map is currently available on the ANH website at the following link:

          http://www.anh.gov.co/hidrocarburos/oportunidades-disponibles/mapa-de-tierras

• Draft Agreement on transitory relief measures (terms and deadlines) for contracts in force:  Upon receipt of comments from the hydrocarbons industry to the draft Agreement, the ANH will be publishing the final Agreement in the following days. The draft agreement, among others, grants an extension of terms and deadlines for the fulfillment of investment commitments in the different stages of the contracts, allows the temporary flexibility of the conditions of the respective guarantees and provides for relief measures related to the postponement of some economic burdens in order to make it possible for companies to maintain operations, therefore reducing the impact of the drop in oil prices on the current volume of production on the tax revenues of the Colombian State during the current situation.

          The text of the project is available:

          http://www.anh.gov.co/la-anh/sobre-la-anh/normatividad

• Temporary relief on payment of economic rights: The ANH is considering the possibility of granting a temporary relief to defer the payment of contractual economic rights, in order to ensure the viability and the continuation of hydrocarbons production. Bear in mind that these rights are different from royalties, which will continue to be normally collected.

Thus, during the difficult circumstances we are currently experiencing, the National Government, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and the ANH are working to ensure the continuity of the operations of the hydrocarbons industry.